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Copyright Nature Publishing Group Jun 2016

Abstract

Previous investigations have identified that the effects of climate change on net primary production (NPP) of global forests have varied both spatially and temporally, and that warming has increased the NPP for many forests. However, other factors, such as available soil water for plant growth, could limit these incremental responses to warming. In our investigation we have quantified the responses of NPP of tropical or subtropical forests in southern China to warming and drought stress over the past three decades (1981 to 2012) using data from five forest research stations and satellite measurements. NPP, mean annual temperature (MAT) and annual days without rainfall showed an increase of 0.076 g C m-2 a-2 (standardized), 0.057 °C a-1 (standardized) and 0.067 d a-1 (standardized) during the study period, respectively. However, incremental NPP was deaccelerated at a rate of approximately 20.8% per decade. This deacceleration was primarily caused by a decrease in available soil water which resulted from warming (mainly occurring in winter and autumn) and the changes in rainfall pattern. The result indicates that intensifying drought stress would limit future increases of forest NPP in southern China.

Details

Title
Decadal drought deaccelerated the increasing trend of annual net primary production in tropical or subtropical forests in southern China
Author
Wang, Wantong; Wang, Jinxia; Liu, Xingzhao; Zhou, Guoyi; Yan, Junhua
Pages
28640
Publication year
2016
Publication date
Jun 2016
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
1808336017
Copyright
Copyright Nature Publishing Group Jun 2016